GREENSBORO, N.C. — And then there were eight. After two days of play at the Greensboro Coliseum, the top seeds are finally beginning their postseasons. Virginia, Syracuse, Duke and North Carolina will all play through the day, and we plan on doing our best to keep you updated.

So keep this tab open and follow along all day for updates.

No. 3-seed Duke vs. No. 6-seed Clemson

Final: Duke 63, Clemson 62

No. 7 Duke fended off Clemson thanks to two free throws with four seconds left from Rodney Hood, who finished with 17 points. Jabari Parker added 18, as the Blue Devils held off a 15-5 run by the Tigers late in the game. Four players scored in double figures for Clemson, as the Tigers nearly staged the upset. Duke shot 16-of-18 from the line, though, advancing to play North Carolina State in the semifinals Saturday.

No. 2-seed Syracuse vs. No. 7-seed N.C. State

Final: N.C. State 66, Syracuse 63

Read beat writer David Wilson’s game story: here.

No. 4-seed North Carolina vs. No. 5-seed Pittsburgh

Final: Pitt 80, UNC 75

Marcus Paige and No. 15 North Carolina thrashed and flailed in the second half, but it wasn’t quite enough to come back from a 19-point deficit. Talib Zanna dominated the paint, finishing with 19 points and 21 rebounds, and the Panthers embarrassed  the Tar Heels’ porous 3-2 zone. UNC used a full-court press to rally from 15 down at the 5:27 mark to four with less than two minutes left, but Paige fouled out with 25 seconds left and the Panthers held on. After the Tar Heels pulled within three on a basket from Nate Britt, Pitt guard James Robinson sealed the game with two free throws.

Halftime: Pitt 36, UNC 26

This segment could be a collection of facts to describe how ugly the Tar Heels’ offense was for the first 12 minutes of the half — they had more air balls than made field goals at the under-eight timeout and didn’t crack double digits until the 5:47 mark of the first half.  But then North Carolina started making enough offense plays to claw back in it. Pitt, which led by as many as 18, fell victim to a parade of open looks at the rim for Paige, Brice Johnson and J.P. Tokoto and a turnaround jumper by James Michael McAdoo at the buzzer cut the halftime lead to 10.

No. 1-seed Virginia vs. No. 9-seed Florida State

Final: UVA 64, FSU 51

Virginia is typically a strong second-half team — just look at what it did to Syracuse — and the ACC tournament’s No. 1 seed kept up that trend against Florida State in the day’s first quarterfinal. The Cavaliers turned a five-point halftime lead into a 13-point victory against the No. 9-seed Seminoles to advance to the semifinals and perhaps knock FSU from NCAA Tournament contention. UVA will face the winner of the day’s second quarterfinal between No. 4-seed North Carolina and No. 5-seed Pittsburgh. Joe Harris shot 3-of-6 from deep and led the way with 20 points for Virginia, which rattled off a 16-7 run during the second half to put away Florida State in front of a decidedly pro-Cavalier crowd.

Halftime: UVA 32, FSU 27

The Cavaliers, who lost only their first game in two months to close the regular season, fell behind early as the Seminoles ran out to a 7-3 lead. But behind Anthony Gill and Harris, UVA rallied back to lead through most of the first half. The pair combined for 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting to outmatch Okaro White, who posted 13 points in the opening stanza. The Seminoles attacked the basket regularly, drawing two fouls on Akil Mitchell and London Perrantes, but allowed UVA to shoot 53.8 percent from the field.

Published on March 14, 2014 at 1:23 pm